Drone insurance: what the law actually requires

Two texts shape the obligation:

• Regulation (EC) 785/2004 requires aircraft operators to hold third-party civil liability insurance. It excludes 'model aircraft with an MTOM of less than 20 kg' (Art. 2), but EASA states that a light drone used for professional purposes is not a model aircraft and must therefore be insured. The minimum is set per accident and for each aircraft according to its mass: 750,000 SDR (the IMF's special drawing rights) for an aircraft under 500 kg (Art. 7).
• The Transport Code (art. L. 6131-2) establishes the operator's strict liability for damage caused to people and property on the surface: no need to prove fault — if your drone causes damage, you are liable, and only the victim's own fault can reduce or remove that liability.

Direct consequence: flying professionally without valid aviation liability cover is not mere carelessness — it is a breach the minister for civil aviation can punish with an administrative fine (up to €1,500 for an individual and €7,500 for a company, per flight: Transport Code, art. R. 6231-1 and R. 6231-2), and a considerable personal financial risk.

For a Mavic worth €2,500, hull cover is debatable. For an RTK or thermal machine worth €15,000, it is a serious calculation — especially if it often flies over water or structures.

The best-priced policy is worthless if an exclusion applies on the day of the claim. The usual ones:

• Flight outside the regulatory framework — undeclared operation, prohibited zone, scenario not covered by your declarations: the insurer can invoke the non-compliance;
• Unqualified remote pilot — an expired certificate (see the 2026 deadlines) or one unsuited to the scenario flown;
• Unlisted aircraft — the drone bought mid-year and never added to the endorsement;
• Undeclared use — a policy taken out for aerial photography that turns out to involve spraying or dropping;
• Gross negligence — non-existent maintenance, unserviceable batteries, flying in explicitly excluded conditions.

• A fleet policy rather than a stack of single-aircraft policies: one master contract, aircraft listed by endorsement — clearer and generally cheaper;
• An endorsement for every change: purchase, resale, retirement → the covered list must track the real fleet, both ways (a resold drone still insured is wasted premium);
• Per-aircraft certificates: this is what clients and inspectors ask for — each machine must be able to produce its own, in force;
• Monitored deadlines: a liability policy expiring on a Friday evening before a week-long job is a classic. Seeing the deadline coming at D−180, D−90, D−30 and D−7 is no luxury.

Three questions, ten seconds:

1. 1Is the mission's aircraft on the covered list of the policy in force?
2. 2Is the certificate valid for the flight dates?
3. 3Does the flight fall within the use declared in the policy?

If any of the three answers is 'no' or 'I don't know', the mission waits. This is exactly the kind of safeguard an operations tool should put in place for you.